Sudan Fellah

The Sudan Fellah were Sudanese militia forces that served in the armies of the United Kingdom and Egypt during the 19th century. The fellah were drawn from the fellahin, agricultural farmers in the Sudan who were hastily conscripted during the Mahdist War with the goal of combatting the Ansar insurgents. The Fellah were drawn from indigenous Afro-Arabs in the northern river valleys of Sudan, and they proved to be unreliable in combat, as many of them were unmotivated and poorly-trained. The Fellah's inexperience would lead to shattering defeats at the hands of the Mahdists during the early years of war, including the loss of Khartoum to the Mahdist army. The Sudan Fellah would continue to serve in the army of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan until its dissolution in 1956.